A Las Vegas man arrested following a series of wrong-way crashes has claimed he was told to do it by the ghost of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Daniel Asseff was arrested following a series of vehicle crashes on the city's 215 beltway last week, with prosecutors alleging he was high on heroin on meth as he drove down the wrong side of the road.
He appeared in court this week charged with attempted murder, driving under the influence and battery with a deadly weapon after it was claimed he had been intentionally trying to run over pedestrians and cyclists and hit other cars.
It's not clear whether anyone else was injured in the incident.
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'That was for Dale Earnhardt Sr., the Intimidator,' he told a judge at a court hearing on Tuesday, February 1. 'Told me to open that for racetrack for NASCAR and Indy car racing if approved by Mayor Goodman for twice a year. They want that use that as a Grand Prix racetrack to open it wrong way backward,'
Earnhardt Sr., who is widely regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time, died aged 49 in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500 race in 2001.
Asseff has two previous DUI convictions, and had his bail set at $500,000 by the judge, who described his actions as 'disturbing' and said he believed Asseff to be a danger to his community.
KSNV News 3 reports that Asseff had been released from a mental health facility on the same day as the incident, and he has since been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He has also been banned from driving and told to undergo alcohol monitoring.
In an interview with News 3 from jail, Asseff said he was 'not completely sure' whether he'd intentionally driven the wrong way, adding that he 'didn't have access to my medication' at the time of the crashes.
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'I just remember, I don't know. I was kind of going that way. And I couldn't change my direction. I was honking the horn and the bright lights on and I was wobbling back and forth to let people know I couldn't change the way I was going,' Asseff claimed.
Police contradicted his recollection, saying he had only stopped after being forced to crash by a police maneuvre.
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